The Toy Box
by TrylonAndPerisphere
Summary: Taking a pause while some lovely folks beta my other Cophine work-in-progress, so I thought I'd get back to some smutty romance.  This is nominally in the same future AU as Cosima's Secret.  It's rated M, starting out somewhat smutty and probably will later turn into a series of more raunchy vignettes.   Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!
1. Part I

**Part I**

Delphine was doing it again. That thing with the wide eyes and the catch of her lower lip in her teeth. Well, she did that a lot, but this was not in the ways Cosima liked, as in the I'm-stimulated-and-getting-turned-on kind of way, or even the I'm-thinking-about-important-matters-that-concern-me way, but more the something-is-bothering-me-and-making-me-too-nervous-to-speak kind of way. It was the extra wide puppy eyes that tipped her off. You couldn't miss 'em.

Delphine had been doing that quite a lot over the last few days, and Cosima finally decided to call her on it, since the concerned looks and "are you okay"s hadn't done the trick.

"Okay, baby, tell me what's up," she nudged, sitting beside her lovely girlfriend on the couch and bumping her with her shoulder. Delphine kept looking at the reports from work she was reading, clearly purposefully, trying to pretend nothing was wrong.

"Eum, it's just the latest trials with the neural tissue growth," Delphine answered, her voice a bit tight. "We can't seem to get the proper scaffolding at that size..."

Cosima rolled her head to the side, giving her the stop-shitting-me look. She reached out and gently pushed the papers down onto Delphine's lap.

"That's sad, but you know that's not what I meant." She rested her hand on her lover's forearm and stroked it softly with her thumb. "Something has been bothering you, I can tell. And if it's something you're trying so hard not to talk about, I'm pretty sure that means it's something we actually _should _talk about, sooner rather than later."

Delphine sighed. She loved how observant, caring and insightful Cosima was, but sometimes it made it hard to keep a secret or a thought she was still working on to herself.

"It's nothing, really," she replied, and patted Cosima's hand, "I've just had a lot on my mind, lately. Some things I'm figuring out."

"Hmm," Cosima responded, with a quick narrowing of her eyes. "You're going to make me play Go Fish, aren't you? Not to get all up in your business, but I can tell when it's about something between us, and you know not talking about it just makes you stew and me nervous - not to mention a little annoyed. So, out with it, Cormier." She poked a finger into Delphine's side, giving it a little wiggle-tickle. "Expert problem-solver, at your service."

Delphine put down her papers and pushed her hair to the other side of her face. Her lip caught in her teeth again, and Cosima silently pointed at it, making Delphine roll her eyes.

"Alright, I'm okay. It's just that... you know how wonderful things have been, between you and I, especially since you've been better. And living with you, in our own home, in peace... it's just been a dream come true."

Cosima nodded, hand under her chin.

"Yes, it has, baby. For me, too. But you sound like there's a 'but' in there."

Delphine's hand went through her hair again, eyebrows rising, trying to properly express herself, but obviously still hesitant.

"Non, non non non," she insisted, her French kicking in. "It _is _like a dream. It i_s_ wonderful. And I've been so happy. It's just that... I worry. I... want you to be happy, too."

Cosima looked at her, wishing she could wrap a string around whatever it was that Delphine was fumbling with and yoink it out like a bad tooth. She laid a hand on her girlfriend's thigh.

"Delphine, baby, I _am_ happy. _So_ happy and _so_ in love with you. It seems like you're the one that's worked up."

Delphine raised her hands as if she was about to say something, then put them down again. Her face was screwing up in nervous concentration.

"I know, mon amour, and I love you, too, but..."

Cosima straightened, nodding at the "but" and waiting for the truth to come out.

"... but sometimes I wonder, if you are happy with... how we... how I make love with you."

Cosima's brow now also screwed into furrows. What the hell was she talking about? She felt almost mad, as if her lover, who at this point had learned more ways to seduce her and given her enough orgasms that she thought she might actually be bordering on addiction, had suddenly forgotten it. Was this a crisis of confidence? What in the Flying Spaghetti Monster's name would make this amazing, sexy woman...?

Cosima's hand tightened on Delphine's thigh, and her eyes widened.

"Waaaaait a minute..." She held up a finger, counting back days since Delphine had started seeming off, somehow. "Is this about the other night? When you came home and I was..."

Cosima remembered Delphine's little "oh!" as she had walked into the bedroom. Delphine had been at work at all hours working on some projects for a conference, and had only made it home to sleep, shower, and have a few running meals. Cosima had tried to get her to take some time to relax, but she had just apologized, and said it would only be bad for a couple weeks, but she needed to work overtime until the materials were finished, and then she would surely spend some down time with her love. Then, inevitably, she'd fall dead asleep on the couch with a report or on her desk spread with papers, and Cosima would shuffle her into bed, where they would both conk out for the night. It wasn't like Cosima wasn't working hard, either. She just had decided after nearly dying that she would take a job that allowed her a little more time to stop and smell the flowers, as it were. Now the flower was all closed up or out of the garden most of the time, and Cosima had to entertain herself.

So, it was that night that she'd been noodling around and reading some particularly erotic sci-fi fanfic, when she decided to scratch her itch. Delphine came home earlier than expected, and Cosima didn't hear her come in, because she had her earbuds in playing music, plus she was busy with a vibrator inside her and a hand on her clit, releasing a little tension. When Delphine came in, the little "oh!" happened, and Cosima had opened her eyes and gave a somewhat less concerned "oh" of her own, and then had started laughing.

"Well, hi there. I didn't expect you to come home at this time," she chuckled, her cheeks tinting as she turned off the vibrator and pulled the sheet slightly over herself so she could assume a less compromising position. Delphine wasn't laughing, though. Delphine looked embarrassed.

"I'm... so sorry," she responded, then paused and began taking off her coat hurriedly. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just... need to go to the bathroom and then I'll give you some time-"

"Hey, my little _cherie,"_ Cosima interjected, her voice reassuring, her French accent still bad. "Don't worry about it. In fact, if you'd like to come join me..." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Delphine paused a moment, seeming flustered, and then came and leaned over to give Cosima a small kiss, then straightened up.

"I don't mean to be rude, but to tell the truth, I'm so very tired. I just wanted to take a hot shower and get some sleep." Her voice and expression were both apologetic.

"Okay, no worries," Cosima answered, and then poked Delphine's leg when the drooping woman still seemed uncertain. "Delphine, it's _fine_. I know you're exhausted. I'll just finish up while you're in the shower, and then we both can get some rest."

Delphine nodded, but her gaze was on a shape under the top sheet.

"I, euh," she started, "I didn't know you had one of these." She waved a hand loosely at the elongated lump beside Cosima's leg.

Cosima blinked, smiled, and then pulled out the vibrator, all eleven, wavy, glittery inches of it.

"What, this? Yeah, well, this one's just an oldie-but-goodie, I guess. Not my best, but I find it familiar..."

"You have more?" Delphine asked, eyebrows rising.

"Oh yeah, I... well, I guess we've never really talked about this, yet. I just figured we would at some point." She blushed slightly, a sly grin proving any shyness was minor. "But I'd be happy to show you my toy box, if you show me yours."

Delphine licked her lips, then nodded.

"Right. Okay, my love. Some other time, maybe..." She was backing up. "I'm just going to go into the bathroom, now."

Cosima thought about Delphine's reaction for a moment after the door clicked shut. Was Delphine really embarrassed? Should _she_ be embarrassed? She knew that Delphine had been sexually experienced, with men, before they got together, and she also knew that Delphine had taken to sex with her eagerly, quickly, like a fish to water. Her girlfriend had always seemed to have a certain _laissez-faire_ attitude toward the subject of sex that Cosima had assumed was just something... French. Delphine had even taken to pleasuring herself in front of her when Cosima had been too sick to physically participate, although that had been at Cosima's request.

Delphine's voice came quietly through the door, over the sound of the shower. She was humming to herself. That was normal.

Cosima mentally shrugged and figured they'd explore the topic more later, but right then she really did want to finish what she had been doing. A few minutes later and she removed the pillow that had absorbed her final moans from her face. She dropped the vibrator unceremoniously off the bed and felt a wave a warm, contented sleepiness wash over her.

By the time Delphine came out - which did seem to take a while - Cosima had turned out the light and was dozing. Cosima felt her love slide under the covers and instinctively rolled over to snuggle up to her. Delphine laid a kiss on her forehead, stroked her back and settled down.

Cosima had really meant to address the subject again, but things had just gotten so darned busy for both of them. And, being Cosima, she was easily distracted. After all, that Rune Wars competition had been in_tense. _And things had been pretty normal, considering Delphine was at the lab so much.

But maybe things hadn't been entirely normal, after all.

Cosima saw Delphine's pupils dip in a sort of confused pain, and couldn't believe how clueless she had been.

"Aw, honey. Del_phine, no._ Tell me you haven't been thinking I've been masturbating because I'm not happy with our sex life? I mean, yeah, there hasn't been as much of it as I would like _lately,_ but you have to know how wonderful and amazing and sexy I find you in bed - all the time!"

Her hands were on Delphine's shoulders now, and her girlfriend gave a small nod, before worrying at her lip once more and pushing out her words.

"I, I know that it's absolutely normal to masturbate. I know that I haven't been around much, I haven't been attentive. But I also did not know you liked... toys so much. And I never asked you. And I never had that much experience with them, because..." she shrugged, her eyes shifting, roaming to look away at something else, at nothing. "I guess, in the past, what I did was... pretty straightforward."

Cosima gave her a look.

"You did not just say _straight_-forward, for reals, did you?" She gave a little snort and took Delphine's hand, tugging on it until her beloved turned back to meet her eyes from beneath a blonde curtain of curls.

"Delphine, listen to me. I _love_ the way you make love to me. You make me feel better than I ever have." She squeezed her hand. "I hoped we'd gotten through this after I apologized for what I said after our first time. You know I was mad at the time."

Delphine nodded again, giving Cosima's hand a squeeze in return, but still giving her those full-on sad puppy eyes.

"So, maybe we have different experiences in the past with sexual expression," Cosima continued. "I guess I've always been pretty comfortable about anything, and had more exposure to some things, so I kind of took for granted that having something of a collection of toys was like, a thing." She stroked Delphine's face. "But I never want you to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with me, and I never want you to be afraid that I'm not one hundred percent satisfied and delighted with the ways we make love, okay?"

"Mm," Delphine replied, a small, relieved smile playing at her lips. "Okay."

"And like, jilling off is _totes _different from being with someone. You know that."

Delphine let out a small laugh.

"'Jilling off?' You almost lost me for a second, on that one."

"Mm. I was fantasizing about you while I did it, too, I forgot to mention."

"Oh, really? And what were you thinking?" Delphine shifted closer.

"I had been reading something and... nevermind. Let's just say I was imagining you in a show with 'Star' in the title, and you'd look really great in a shiny, skin-tight outfit."

Delphine chuckled. They both leaned in, forehead to forehead, and shared a soft kiss.

"Thank you, _mon amour. _And, euh, if there's anything else you ever want to try, or want me to do, I want to learn about it. Any... toys, or whatever. I just want to share with you, give you pleasure."

Cosima smiled. "Of course. I really did just think it was something we hadn't gotten to, yet. I wasn't waiting or worried or anything. I've been _very _pleasured."

"Good. I have, as well. So much," Delphine answered.

They sat for a moment, cozy, holding each other, smiling softly.

"I even did some... research," Delphine offered. "I've been looking at stores and online articles and things. But there was just so much, and I wasn't sure how to start, with you."

"Aw. That's my sweet scientist. Doing research," Cosima smiled wider, giving her a squeeze. Delphine let our a little hum of pleasure as they relaxed more into the couch.

A few moments passed. Cosima cleared her throat. She was too curious.

"But, um... you really don't have any toys, or anything? Not even a vibrator?"

"Ah, well, yes," Delphine responded, "I do have one of those."

Cosima's tongue snuck out from between her teeth as she grinned.

"Can I _see _it?"

A quick eyeroll and a fond look from Delphine later, they made their way into the bedroom. Delphine reached into the top shelf of the closet ("aha! I'm too short to get up there!" Cosima accused,) and pulled out a small box. She almost blushed again, but then realized how comfortable she did feel with Cosima, and how much she loved sharing with her, including during sex. She pulled the lid off.

Cosima looked at the small, plastic item inside. There was a pause.

"_Really_, Delphine?" she finally asked, unable to hold it back. "What does that take, a _watch _battery?"

Delphine's look turned from one of warmth to a particularly French stink-eye.

"What? I'm just _saying,_" Cosima flailed, trying to defend herself. "Honey, girl, _no_. Listen, you know what one of the greatest things about 'crazy science' is?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me," Delphine smirked, recognizing their code words, and waiting for the kicker.

"'Crazy science' isn't just about _researching_," Cosima grinned, tugging Delphine closer. "It's about _experimenting_, too." She brushed her lips against her girlfriend's, adding a brief stroke of the tip of her tongue. Delphine's mouth curved into a smile.

"And I think," Cosima teased, her hands slipping down to cup Delphine's ass, "that we have a lot of experimenting to do. For science, of course."

"For science," Delphine teased back, grabbing the waistline of Cosima's skirt and pulling her pelvis against her own. "And, for orgasms."

"Ah, yes," Cosima murmured nipping at Delphine's neck. "_Touché,_ Doctor Cormier. To boldly go..."

Delphine gave her a small hit on the shoulder, and they stopped talking, finding other things to do with their mouths.


	2. Part II

**Part II**

How could there be a whole sweater box of _gadgets érotique_ under their bed and Delphine hadn't known?

_("Really?"_ Cosima asked her, her mouth pulling askew in that teasing way of hers.

"I thought it was," Delphine argued, with an abbreviated gallic shrug, _"sweaters!"_)

Now they were sitting on the floor, Cosima bearing an expression part amusement, part what seemed to be fond remembrance, and Delphine was trying to take it all in.

"Why would you need," Delphine paused to mentally count, "five vibrators?" Cosima laughed.

"Well, it's not like I bought them all at the _same time,_" she answered, waving her hands. "Sometimes you just want to try different things, to see if you like them, or if you're in a different mood, you know? Like, this one has a constant, strong vibration, and that other one has settings where it pulses. And six."

Delphine nodded. _Pulses,_ she was thinking. Then she paused.

"'Six?'"

"Yeah," Cosima shrugged, then gestured over her shoulder, "counting the big one."

Delphines eyes moved to the closet shelf where a large, double-headed massager waited, she had thought, innocently.

"But Cosima!" She couldn't conceal her shock. "That is a _sports_ massager. You use it on your back or limbs when they are tight and pulled. It… it _rumbles_."

The entire tip of Cosima's tongue was poking from between her grinning teeth, now.

"Yeah, and? You can use it for both. Post-workout, or_ for_ a workout."

Delphine's face was a baffled, concerned reflection of her internal processing. She was beginning to wonder if Cosima wasn't going to pull out a jackhammer next.

Cosima was, perhaps, enjoying this conversation too much.

"You are _so, cute_," she teased her girlfriend, reaching over to pinch/tickle her side, then leaning in to kiss the corner of her mouth. Delphine let out a sigh.

"Listen," Cosima soothed her, taking her hand and stroking it with her thumb, "we're just looking, having fun. None of this indicates anything I want from you, and none of it indicates anything you have to like or do. I have my feelings and body, and you have yours. We can share whatever we like of them, and the rest—" she made a gesture cutting through the air with her other hand, wiping things clear between them.

Delphine was quiet for a moment, then pursed her lips.

"… is negotiable," she said.

"Huhn?" It was Cosima's turn to be confused.

"The rest, everything, is negotiable. Maybe we are not comfortable with some things right away, but we talk about it and we, _experiment_, as you said, and we see what we like, and what we enjoy doing because it gets the other person really," she paused and pulled her lover's hand to hers, kissing her fingers, _"hot."_ At that word, Delphine curled her tongue to pull Cosima's index finger into her mouth and sucked gently on it from the lowest knuckle to the pad. A smile formed around the finger as Cosima's mouth dropped open and eyes darkened, and Delphine gave a playful, squeezing nip to the tip.

"Guh," Cosima answered eloquently. Now Delphine giggled.

Cosima's eyes narrowed.

"Doctor _Cormieeerrr_…"

Far less rattled, Delphine poked around further in the box.

"Is this a… tiny feather duster?" she asked, picking up one item.

Cosima shook her head and snapped out of it.

"Uh, sort of. It came with this bottle of, like, this flavoured powder? A girl I was seeing got it. You're supposed to dust this powder on each other and then, like, lick it off, because it's really sweet, or something. But that just got sticky." She shrugged. "I did like the tickle of the feathers, though."

Delphine raised an eyebrow at her.

"Noted." She felt somewhat relieved that everything in the box wasn't going to involve getting stronger, harder, faster, and more intense, to the point of mechanization. She could accept her lover having a higher tolerance for vibration than her, but she didn't want to feel inadequate. "What about this?" She held up what looked like a bright orange, plastic, horse pill.

"Oh," Cosima took it from her and pulled it apart into two halves. She squeezed the hollow ends a couple times. "Put out your finger."

Delphine did as she was told and Cosima pressed one of the hollow ends to her finger pad, squeezing slightly, until it stuck there by suction. There was a pause, then Delphine looked up for clarification. Cosima popped the item off her finger, and touched the swollen, red circle where it had been.

"See that?" She pointed, probing the spot. "The blood rushes in. Gets the area sensitive." She looked up into Delphine's eyes. "Think nipples," she finished, wiggling her eyebrows.

Delphine felt her face flush. The blood was rushing to her nipples just thinking about it.

"They're okay," Cosima shrugged, pushing both halves back together. "I just never found it very sexy using something that looks kinda like traffic cones for your…"

She was about to put the device back in the box, when Delphine reached out and stopped her. Cosima's eyes flew up again, and she gauged the look on her lover's face.

"… or maybe they really, _really_, could be. We'll just leave that out for now," she finished, placing the item aside from the box.

Delphine smiled and they began poking through the box again. There was a length of soft rope ("yeah, that didn't work out so well," Cosima dismissed, making Delphine resolve to ask about the story behind it at some point,) a few small black rubber bits ("oh, those were the covers for some clamps. Turns out I only enjoy using those as roach clips,") two bottles of lube, condoms, and two silicone dildos, one a wavy pink, the other the unlikely shape of a smiling dolphin, ("that I kept as a _joke_," Cosima insisted, "I was seeing this girl in PETA…")

Delphine finally pulled out a ball of leather and nylon webbing that turned out to be two harnesses, tangled together. Cosima set about working them apart.

"The nylon one works well, is easier to wash and is less… leather-y than the leather, I guess. But I kind of think the leather's hot." This reminded her of something. "You know, I'm _totally_ taking you to the Folsom Street Fair someday."

"Someday," Delphine smirked. She was weighing the more free-form dildo in her palm.

"Why only two?" she asked.

"What?"

"Why only two, euhm, 'dildos?'" Delphine clarified. "You seem to like to sample so much else. Or was the dolphin just enough?"

Cosima rolled her eyes at the taunt, then narrowed them in thought.

"I dunno," she admitted. "I had more. But, I guess for both sanitary reasons and emotionally cleaning house I tend to throw away the ones I use with a specific person for a while after we break up. The pink one is just my favourite," she reached out, snatched the offending water-mammal shaped one from Delphine's lap and chucked it in the direction of the bedroom door, "and this one, which is _a joke_, is getting tossed now."

Delphine smiled at the small pink patches that rose to her girlfriend's cheeks, then watched as Cosima held up the finally-extracted leather harness up with a small "ta-dah!" Delphine tilted her head, resting her chin on one hand.

"Soooo," she started, "if that is what you have done, and we are in a relationship now, perhaps we should get some, just for us?" She looked up at Cosima from under her lashes, and appreciated the slow grin that tugged at the smaller woman's mouth, along with the slow rise of heat in her eyes.

"Oh, _yeah_," Cosima answered, "I definitely think we should try that…"

She leaned over, across the open toy box, and pressed a slow, sensual kiss to her lover's lips. Delphine cupped Cosima's cheek in one hand and kissed back, pressing closer, until a hum broke from Cosima's throat and their tongues began to dance. Cosima dropped the harness to her lap to reach out her hands to her lover, but there was a sudden _thunk_ as something heavy fell out of the wadded belting of the nylon version. They both looked down. A small, conical, glass object laid on the rug. Delphine raised her eyebrows.

"I thought you said you only had those two left," she noted, "and that looks rather small…"

Cosima flung both harnesses over the surprise item.

"That's…" she bit her lip for a moment, flustered. It was a gesture she had picked up from Delphine. "That's… not a dildo," she finished, her eyes turning upwards to regard Delphine from under their lashes, as if expecting judgement.

Delphine recalled the size and shape of the "rather small dildo," its bulbous thicker end and its flared base.

"Wait a minute," she realized, "that doesn't go in your…"

Cosima silenced her with another kiss.

"Nope," she barely answered, and pushed the box aside, pulling Delphine into her arms, "and we'll talk about that later," she mumbled between kisses.

Delphine was part chuckling, part kissing back and part squirming in resistance.

"Oh, so now after acting the Big Expert you are going to try to distract me from…"

"Yep, ya caught me," Cosima agreed shortly, tugging at her lower lip with a kiss and pulling her up towards the bed. Delphine giggled as Cosima pushed her down and laid herself atop her, beginning to bite and suck at her neck.

"But you will be telling me…" Delphine tried again, then caught her breath at a particularly strong nibble. "No lovemarks above the collar," she half-heartedly reminded the woman seducing her, with a flimsy slap to her shoulder.

"_Later_," Cosima insisted, working her way to the hollow of Delphine's throat, with a self-satisfied smile as her girlfriend moaned. "Don't make me need to take that rope out."

_AN:_ _I promise not all of these are going to be smutty without the actual sex. Sometimes it just seems a good place to close the curtain. And remember, I love comments and reviews, even if they aren't glowing ones!_


	3. Part III

_**A continuation of the "smut" Cophine AU that seems to have turned into a character study involving lot of imagined conversations Cosima and Delphine might have about sex. Who knows? Your mileage may vary. **__**Rated M.**_

Things were getting serious. Cosima could tell, because when she got home, Delphine was already there before her, she had a half-glass of wine and her glasses on, and was chewing on her lip as she stared at her laptop.

"What's up, Special Sauce?" Cosima teased, pulling her keys out of the lock and shutting the door.

Delphine looked up at her, and straightened, her expression thoughtful.

"What do you think about pornography?" she asked.

"Ohhh-kaaayyy," Cosima began, dropping her keys in the dish, stepping out of her shoes and pulling her coat off. She tossed it over the end table, knocking off several pieces of mail, a sheet of scrawled notes on chidren's toy regulations (Cosima was hatching something with Kira,) and a coaster to the floor in the process. Delphine saw this and let out an automatic sigh as Cosima approached her.

"I have many thoughts about pornography," Cosima answered slowly, folding her legs under her as she joined Delphine on the couch, her knees just touching her lover's thigh. "Why don't we reverse a bit and take a quick detour into context-land?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, my love." Delphine shook her head to clear it and leaned over to give her girlfriend a soft, welcome-home kiss. "I've been doing some research on our little… project, and I just feel there is so much I want to learn about you."

"Ah." Cosima rose and padded to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine as she continued the conversation through the pass-through. "There are a lot of things I want to learn about you, too, chou-chou, and…" she replied, making her way back to the couch and sitting again, "I totally agree to talk with you about them right now, on the condition that we order Thai food."

Delphine half-rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Whole snapper with sticky rice," she acquiesced.

"The usual, then. Tom Ka Gai and Gaeng Pah Muu for me." Cosima started tapping at her cell phone.

"Let me guess, you'll need to order the Thai iced tea to counteract the spiciness, and then you'll have to smoke a joint to be able to sleep after all that sugar and caffeine." They'd been together long enough that Delphine knew her well, in this area.

"But of course, just like you'll never finish that whole fish," Cosima grinned, finishing the order, "but honey, with this conversation and the day I've had today, I was gonna do a J, anyway."

Delphine reached over and stroked her partner's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about your day?"

"Nah," Cosima answered, putting down the phone and turning towards her. "I'm all ready for porn, now. So, where did this question come from, and what specifically did you want to ask me about it?"

Delphine blew out through her lips, then explained.

"Well, I was thinking about trying new things with you, like we talked about. So, I've been doing some research. I am actually rather… appalled at myself that I've taken this long to really look into the subject. Instead, I let you do most of the teaching with me learning—"

"Hold the phone, there," Cosima waved the hand not holding a wineglass. "That's not how I see it. I mean, sure, you started off new to being with a woman, but between your enthusiasm and your powers of observation and reaction to my cues, I'd say you were pretty much a natural. And I'm not just saying that because you're damn fine," she clarified, a small grin playing at her lips.

Delphine smiled back at her, dimples emerging. She nodded her head.

"Bon. Well, with you, how could I not? Ever since that first kiss, you set me on fire, mon amour. I just always felt things… flowed really well."

"After that first time," Cosima pointed out. Delphine sighed.

"Yes, after that first time, when I was so nervous—"

"And guilty," Cosima added in.

"—and guilty," Delphine repeated, with small tinges of annoyance and resignation, "that I couldn't fully be present. Shall I apologize again?"

"No, baby, you know I'm just yankin' your chain. Three hundred-something times is probably enough," Cosima sassed, then spread her palm in a guiding gesture. "Go on."

"Fine. So, I just always felt our lovemaking was so fantastic, I just couldn't even think beyond that. I mean, I didn't think it could get any better for me, so I blindly thought so of you."

"Ugh, Delphine, it _is_ fantastic, and the only thing that could get better would be us having fun exploring whatever you're comfortable with and you stopping chastising yourself for something I don't think you did wrong."

"Right, yes," Delphine nodded, appeasing her. "At any rate, I've just been looking into areas where my knowledge is slim, or perhaps I just never really thought about, and you had mentioned reading erotica, so, it got me thinking."

"About the porn or the erotica?" Cosima sipped her wine.

"Both. Either. I mean, there are different views about pornography, socio-politically speaking—"

"Can I just say how cute you are when you say 'pornography?'" Cosima interjected, raising the pitch of her voice and imitating Delphine's accent badly on the last word.

"Why do you always do that, with the speaking higher? My voice is not like that. I think you make me sound silly."

Cosima began to defend herself, but stopped.

"Oh, come… Yeah. Yes, I was teasing. Good point. I'm not sure why I do that. You're not silly, at least, not in general. Call me on it if I do it again."

Delphine leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"That's my darling. Thank you."

"So," Cosima paused to get back on track, "'sociopolitical.'" She turned and reached for the small box that held her smoking kit and began putting together a marijuana cigarette on the coffee table, as if the action occupying her hands helped her to focus. "As in what? As in some people being pro-porn as normal or empowering and others seeing it as degrading to women? Or maybe as in depictions of queer sexuality in pornography, or erotica, or the discourse thereon?" She was in dissertation mode, now.

"Mm, you pick." Delphine shifted her body to partially face her, pulling one leg up into a bent position on the couch, and tucking the toes of that foot under Cosima's thigh.

"Well, the way I see it is," Cosima opined, expertly rolling a small joint, "it depends on the porn. I mean, it's part of who we are, as humans, as sexual beings who can use technology to bring us images of things we, as apes, would just see naturally occurring around us, or hide behind some bushes to see, right?" She waved one hand. "I mean, totally different cognitive context, of course."

Delphine sipped her wine, not really sure where her stoner girlfriend was going with this, but enjoying observing her thought process.

"Okay, so," Cosima turned to look at her, face and hands becoming more animated in that way they did when she became excited by analysis. "Sex and, to a degree, voyeurism being natural, there's gonna be porn, and, it's going to illustrate some social construct of what we see is sexy. More often than not, that's going to reflect the normative, quantitatively speaking, mores of the major cultures, because: supply and demand. Not to mention that sociopolitical groups, like small groups of humans, often require a certain degree of members being like one another to belong. I mean, we're all about dichotomy and judging most of the time, right? Despite evolving, we have a hard time not putting things into yes/no boxes."

She paused to lick the joint with a practiced movement of fingers and tongue. Delphine smiled at the gesture.

"But," here Cosima placed the joint between her lips, lit it, and took the first toke, "over time and with greater tools for communication, some of the less-normative concepts of sex get disseminated, at the same time as we, as humans, keep exploring and, and… keep our big brains going when it comes to what may have started as an instinctual act, so that what we appreciate as sexy becomes more diverse."

Delphine was squinting now, trying to keep up, and not just because English was her second language. She moved her glasses to the top of her head and blew a stray strand of hair from in front of her face. Meanwhile, Cosima was squirming like she might stand up and pace at any moment.

"So, I guess," she hypothesized, the hand holding the joint making a sort of spiral as if to gather her thoughts into one point, and making a distracting smoke pattern as she did it, "pornography, like sexual activity, is very diverse, because we are diverse, because we combine primal urges with a consciousness that is way beyond what is necessary to reproduce, plus our complex social structures still can't keep up with the way the chemistry of our brains and bodies generate and handle emotions." She looked at Delphine as if that explained everything.

Delphine felt her own gears grinding.

"So," she pushed out, after a moment, "what you're saying is, pornography basically is… is only one way of depicting, and exploring, what is good and bad in elements of our… of our cultures, both widespread and less accepted, yes?"

"Oui," Cosima smiled, her tone a bit smug, and her French pronunciation purposefully a bit over the top.

"Mmhmm," Delphine nodded, taking another sip of her wine, then squinting one eye and waving a pointer finger in Cosima's direction. "That is all very insightful, but it still doesn't tell me what you, as an individual, thinks about it, both sort of… typical versions and non-normative."

Cosima took another hit of her joint, then exhaled a plume of smoke.

"Right," she admitted. "Well, then, as an individual, I would say I'm pretty open-minded. I certainly don't mind anyone doing what they want and recording it, as long as it's done in a way that's fully aware and consensual. However, in terms of reading, or watching or whatever, porn, my personal tastes lean towards things where the participants really seem to be enjoying it, and… and… I think, for me, a lot of the more prevalent kind of stuff, like average, basic, straight porn, seems to be poorly acted. Like, I can't buy that it's all that enjoyable? And, you know, I give props to sex workers and know desire can take what we think of as stereotypical forms… I mean, you know I've been with and dated men… sometimes I feel like the normative agenda is being pushed down our throats… both the actors and the watchers'… aaaaannnd that was a particularly interesting way to put it, I just came up with, there."

She laughed at herself, and Delphine joined in.

""Pushed down our throats.' Are you telling me you don't like watching blow jobs?" She teased.

Cosima shook her head. She extended her hand to offer the joint to her girlfriend, who shrugged and took a small drag, handing it almost immediately back, but holding the smoke well.

"No, it's that being rote bores me, and if it doesn't strike me as something both participants much want to be doing beyond a paycheck, I'm not into it." She put out the joint, her expression thoughtful. "Of course, that judgment is subjective, you know? I mean, I like to think of myself as fairly educated on sexual and gender constructs, and a pretty good judge of what's genuine, but it really just comes down to what I perceive and what buttons that pushes in me, I guess."

Delphine swirled the remnants of wine in her glass and then pointed it at her.

"That was patently unclear," she stated, as Cosima took her glass and rose to refill it. "But I suppose my question was very open-ended. That is why you asked me to be more specific, non?"

"Mhm," Cosima nodded, returning with the glass and bottle.

"Very well, then," the tall blonde agreed, and leaned forward to place a barely-there kiss on the shell of her lover's ear. Her voice was soft as she next spoke, the breath tickling the sensitive area of Cosima's skin. "Now that I know you like some erotica and pornography, perhaps you could share some of what you like with me?"

Cosima's eyes slid to the side toward Delphine's murmur, a pleasant chill spreading down the back of her neck.

"Share? As in, tell you about it, or share-share?"

"Whatever you want, mon amour," Delphine hummed, nuzzling her in a way that she knew would drive her girlfriend to distraction.

Cosima turned to face her, brushing their noses together, her lips millimeters from Delphine's.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're perfect?" she inquired.

"Ah, I believe you have, once or twice," Delphine noted, unable to fully conceal a smile.

Their lips came together, also once, twice, and Cosima dropped the joint into the ashtray to cup Delphine's jaw.

The electric doorbell bleated.

* * *

><p>One delivery meal later (during which Delphine had to tell Cosima directly "do not kiss me with your spicy dragon breath,") they were curled up on the couch, soft music playing, and Cosima opening her laptop.<p>

"So, if I'm in the mood and I have the time, which, as you know…"

They nodded at each other, acknowledging their busy schedules.

"'kay, so, I like written erotica and porn a lot, partly because it really lets me use my imagination, which means I can tailor it to what turns me on inside my head. As for videos, I tend to watch independent queer stuff, usually. I mean, it's on a case-by-case basis, but, you know, my personal preference for body mods is tats and piercings rather than fake tits."

Delphine hummed.

"Now there's something we don't usually see in the primate world."

'Well, why put on lipstick when your ass blows up all swollen and red when you're ready for nookie?" Cosima pointed out.

"I'm sorry I can't do that for you," Delphine mock-pouted, and they both chuckled.

"So, some of the stuff I like is what they call 'feminist' or 'ethical porn,' which basically means that women's consent and agency are prioritized by the filmmakers. Sometimes the directors are also the actors. If you do a little research you can find this stuff out, make sure they have fair pay policies, et cetera. Although, if it's indie porn and not a bigger company, chances are there's not a lot of money in it, so it's a labour of love, anyway. Or maybe a labour of kink."

"You know, I think it is sexy that you do research to make sure what you're watching is fair to women? I like that you can be scientific, be caring and look for stimulation all at the same time," Delphine winked.

"Well, you know me, always thinking," Cosima smirked back. "And I wouldn't say just women. I like people of all genders to be treated fairly. Not that sometimes I don't find something I like, say 'fuck it' and watch it first before I do some due diligence, or whatever."

"Well, we all get caught up in the moment now and then," Delphine acknowledged. "Like that time on the train…" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Cosima sucked in her breath.

"Ohhhh, God," she moaned, remembering. "When the doors opened and I got that cold blast of winter wind up my skirt… totally worth it, by the way. Plus, I think if we'd gone on ten seconds more, someone boarding the train would have bumped into us while I was coming."

"I actually remember looking at that rosy-cheeked German family and wondering what little Hansi and his parents would have thought if that happened," Delphine smiled, crinkling her nose.

"'Nein, nein! Ist der lesbianenenenen," Cosima giggled. "Zzzuch un public diz-grrrrace!"

"Ugh, I thought you said your grandmother spoke German," Delphine giggled back.

"Sure, but you know I can't pass up the chance to do an outrrrrrrageous accent," Cosima pointed out.

Delphine shook her head fondly and stroked the free baby hairs at Cosima's temple.

"And when the hotel access card wouldn't work…?"

"I was so mad! I had, like, the biggest case of blue ovaries."

They both laughed a bit more, then Cosima caught Delphine's eye with a look both sly and grateful.

"Thank Darwin you made up for it later."

"Mm, you too, as I recall," Delphine purred, and they both leaned in, sharing a kiss like a slow burn.

"You know," Cosima suggested, as they wound their arms around one another, "it's totally late, and we could finish this conversation later."

"Oui," Delphine agreed, sucking Cosima's lower lip into her mouth and running the tip of her tongue along it.

The talking portion of the evening was pretty much over.

* * *

><p>It was a few days later before they talked about it again. It was a Sunday, and Delphine was taking a rare moment to read a non-work-related book for pleasure in the bed, when Cosima entered from where she'd been quietly poking at her laptop and sat beside her.<p>

"Okay, you remember when we were talking about porn and erotica and stuff?"

Delphine blinked for a moment, then rested her book on her lap.

"Yes, mon amour."

"Well, I've got some stories and film clips I've downloaded, and I thought since we were all done with our errands and cleaning…"

Delphine smiled and slipped her bookmark into her book before placing it on the nightstand.

"By all means, then," she offered, patting the pillows beside her. Cosima clambered in all the way and leaned against the pillows beside her, laptop on her knees.

"You know, considering the last time we talked about it we didn't even get around to actually looking at it before you couldn't resist me, I'm hoping this will be something you'll enjoy." She began opening folders on her laptop, but she paused.

"You know, before we get into this, what do you think about erotica and porn? I didn't get your viewpoint, really. What's your experience?"

Delphine tilted her head, thinking.

"Well, as you say, I've always accepted that it's something inevitable in our society, particularly for men — not that women don't enjoy it, too. I know sensual imagery goes back as far as painting and sculpture, themselves. Also, I think, in France we are, most of us, a little more practical and realistic about these things. We find sex normal, rather than… salacious? Except for some of the very religious, of course."

"Right, yeah," Cosima acknowledged. She'd come to know more about French culture through Delphine.

"I mean, there are varying degrees of, of feminist opinion. But, as for me…" Delphine drummed her fingers, gathering her thoughts and translating them into English. "I have not been so interested in the hard porn, you know? I prefer, euhm, erotica, or something where the actors seem to have affection for one another. When it is just…" she hit her hands together several times, "pounding and grunting — and so many positions for no reason! — that makes me feel like I am watching an animal exhibition, like a zoo. We are primates, as you said, but I think we are more complex. But, at the same time, it feels too… intimate? For me, in a way. Like, I do not feel I need to be that close to a stranger's body parts."

"Especially in HD," Cosima interjected. "Nobody needs to see every ingrown hair, and stuff."

"Euh, that is not something I thought about. Although we do all have our blemishes, our scars."

Cosima thought for a second.

"So, does something erotic have to come with, like, a love story for you to dig it?"

"Well, I appreciate emotion of some kind, but I don't know that it needs an involved plot. I think, it's very easy to have sex that is impersonal, non? A more, _mechanical_ union, it may be good for the moment, but having a pursuit, feelings, complications, makes it, for me, more sexy. There is a sort of a mental foreplay, it builds the anticipation. Certainly I may have a physiological reaction to just observing sex, but it is more like a, like a fast food hamburger than a real meal. And you know, I rarely like fast food."

"Well, you lost me on impersonal sex being easy. It's almost always turned into some kind of drama, for me."

"I bet that is because no one who is with you can help falling a little in love with you," Delphine grinned, cupping Cosima's chin and giving her a light, teasing kiss.

"Oh, yeah, that must be it." Cosima made a mock-smug face.

Delphine looked at the computer screen.

"Soooo…?"

"Oh, yeah, right," Cosima fiddled with the touchpad, and then paused for a moment. She turned to Delphine.

"Would you believe that now I'm feeling a little shy?"

Delphine giggled.

"Well, if you want to retain some mystery, that can be quite alluring," she offered, "but just as I trust you not to judge me, I will not judge you if our tastes are not the same." She kissed her girlfriend's ear. "And I am feeling a little shy, too… and a little nervous. But, also, a little excited."

"Yeah?" Cosima grinned. "Okay. So, I've got some fanfic bookmarked that you might like, although only for the shows you've seen so far. A lot of that is pretty romantic. I mean, if a story is written well, I can be more shmoopy and turned on in the space before the first kiss than I might with full-on sex in something else. However, some of the movie clips I've got are a little more hard core, with less plot. I think that I kind of like them when… well, when I just want to get right to the action. Sometimes it's not about being emotionally fulfilled or carried along by a plot. Sometimes I just want… a release, you know? And as much as I like thinking about you, when we can't be together, that can get kind of frustrating, I guess. So, given what you've said, I'm not sure you're going to like any of this."

"Okay, duly warned," Delphine accepted, "but I'm still curious and I still want to know what gets you wound up, when I'm not there."

Cosima swallowed and started a clip.

Delphine watched with her as two young women, one slender and brunette, and one more curvy and blonde, both with multiple tattoos and piercings, started kissing and touching each other.

"There's a tiny bit of set-up before this, but it's really not, you know, much of anything…" Cosima explained, as the two women began removing each other's clothing.

Delphine nodded and watched along. She was having some of that feeling of suddenly peeping at someone's private sex life that she hadn't been prepared to see. Cosima was watching her from the corner of her eye, gauging her reactions and colouring slightly in her chest and cheeks.

There was a lot of kissing and groping and sucking of fingers. Delphine began to lightly sweat. She wasn't sure how attractive she found either of the women with so little context, but they were alright, and did seem to be enjoying themselves. The blonde woman was flicking her tongue over the bar the other had piercing her nipple, and Delphine felt Cosima tense beside her. She glanced over and Cosima was chewing her lip. Delphine made a mental note.

"Didn't you mention you wanted to get a piercing there at one time?"

"Yeah," Cosima answered, not turning, "but I found out that it takes, like, a super long time to heal, and I've never wanted my nips to be out of commission for that long," she glanced over at Delphine and intertwined their fingers, giving her hand a little squeeze, "especially now that I'm in a steady relationship with such a hot number." Delphine smiled at her, and filed that factoid away for future conversation. She had to admit that not only did she guess that such an adornment would be attractive on Cosima, but the idea of how much it would obviously turn her lover on to have and display it made her want to discuss the possibility further.

The passion between the women in the film escalated, and soon they were naked and touching all over. Suddenly, the brunette stopped and told the other, "wait right here, don't move." The other woman panted, waiting, while being told from off camera to be patient. When the dark-haired woman returned, she was wearing a harness with a black dildo attached to it.

"Here's where it starts getting really good…" Cosima mumbled, and Delphine looked at her. She could see her lover's lips move silently around the words as the woman in the harness began talking dirty to the other, promising "I'm going to fuck the taste out of your mouth." Delphine's eyebrows rose, as she made another mental note, this time on just how much Cosima seemed to enjoy the rough, explicit wording. As the two women in the clip began grinding against each other, Cosima suddenly reached over and tapped the screen.

"There. Look at her _face_," Cosima uttered, her voice low, and Delphine obliged. The woman getting fucked really did have a look of transport on her face, eyes closed, mouth gaping, skin flushed. The noises she was making weren't the usual rote lines Delphine had heard in some pornography. At the same time, the other woman looked honestly transfixed on her sexual partner's face, as well, determined to do what it took to get her off, even as she had to strain to go harder, faster.

Cosima's eyes were fixated on the screen. Delphine found herself glancing back and forth between her and the movie. Delphine realized she was… yes, she, herself, was feeling aroused, but she couldn't tell how much was from the porn versus watching her girlfriend's pupils dilating, tongue flicking over lips, hips squirming, accompanied by a nervous swallow. At the same time, she still had the feeling that maybe she shouldn't be watching the women on the screen. Some of the things she told Cosima about finding sex between strangers both impersonal and too intimate were definitely present in her mind, making her uncomfortable. Yet, every time one of them groaned, Delphine found herself sucking in her breath, hearing in her head an echo of what Cosima sounded like when she moaned in desire.

Cosima suddenly turned to her.

"You're watching me," she pointed out. Delphine felt herself flush. "Is this not okay," Cosima asked, "do you want me to turn it off?"

Delphine's lower lip found its home between her teeth in her usual nervous habit. She felt her blood rushing as her eyes met Cosima's, as though she were being sucked into her lover's desire.

"I…" she started, hitched, then breathed out, "I don't care…" Their gazes locked in understanding.

The laptop was pushed hastily aside as they grasped at each other, tugging on clothes, lips clashing, breath hot. Delphine could feel the energy of stimulation, of wanting, pouring off of Cosima in waves, and she was being swept along, her own arousal rising and flooding her senses. There was no slow build, no murmured endearments, just clutching at each other and moaning approvals. Delphine's teeth sunk into one of Cosima's nipples and the smaller woman threw back her head and cried out, her voice reverberating off the walls. Soon they were naked, entangled, and both had their fingers pumping into the other, pushing in a way that was almost competitive. Finally, Delphine felt an urge she couldn't suppress. She moved, pushing Cosima's hand out of her and aside, and captured her girlfriend's mouth in hers, thrusting her thigh between Cosima's legs and using it to push her fingers in harder with it. Cosima gasped, and threw her head back again, and Delphine watched as her amour held her breath, and finally came, shaking, with a long, ragged moan.

Things suddenly became rather quiet, just the sounds of their panting slowing down, some cheesy music playing from the laptop where it had been pushed, at some point, on its back at the foot of the bed. Cosima was holding Delphine tightly, the sweat between them making them slip against each other with each tiny movement. They took a few moments to recuperate.

"So," Cosima said, finally able to speak again, and looked into her lover's eyes, "you liked it?"

Delphine smoothed an errant dreadlock from Cosima's forehead.

"I liked _you,_ my love," she answered, "I liked _your_ pleasure."

Cosima was still coming down, and although a thoughtful look passed across her face, her eyelids were also drooping.

"I'll take that," she sleepily grinned.

Delphine leaned down and gave her a soft, slow kiss.

"I know you're tired, my love," she told her. "It's okay, get some rest."

She watched, her heart full, as Cosima turned and snuggled her back against her, wrapping herself in Delphine's arm. Her lover drifted into slumber quickly, spent.

Delphine chewed her lip some more, and thought. She knew she had enjoyed the build-up of arousal and the fervid sex, but she still wasn't sure if the actual pornography had been a strong catalyst for her. She still didn't feel fully comfortable with it, and she felt she should mull that over. How much of her uncomfortable reactions were related to the sexual shame society had instilled in her, as Cosima might say? And did it matter? It had led to a very intense interaction, so why question it? At the same time, if she didn't analyze how she felt, how could she know what she really liked and wanted, and what might end up feeling uncomfortable or like a turn-off over time?

She thought some more as she got up and brushed her teeth, washed her hands and face. Finishing, she leaned against the doorway and looked at her lover, sound asleep on the bed. The moonlight highlighted the curves of her one of her cheeks, shoulders and hips in a way that made Delphine's heart squeeze in her chest. Cosima was definitely down for the count. Delphine set the alarm, and slipped into the bed beside her, cuddling up as her big spoon once again.

* * *

><p>Several days later, Cosima was met by a surprise when she came home.<p>

Delphine hopped up from the couch, grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom. Cosima shucked off her coat on the way and then joined her on the bed, raising her eyebrows as she saw Delphine had her laptop open, and her lower lip was caught almost non-stop in her teeth.

"I have been waiting for you," Delphine told her, as they leaned against the headboard and Delphine propped up the computer. "I did some more research, and I think I have found some kind of visual pornography that I like. Sooo… I think it's my turn…?"

Cosima looked at her partner. Delphine's eyes were bright, like a child wanting to show her friend a much-wanted Christmas gift. Cosima twitched her lips and nodded.

"Well then, carry on," she nodded, and Delphine pulled up a video.

On the screen, a handsome muscular man was walking across a room, shirtless. Cosima's eyebrows crept a bit higher. _Oh, a guy. Okay, then…_ she thought.

Then the man opened the apartment door, and another hunky guy entered the room, smiling. They immediately began to kiss.

"Ohhhh," Cosima exclaimed, and slapped her pillow in emphasis. "You're one of _those_ girls!"

Delphine turned to her, her expression nervous, uncertain. She had trusted in her love to honour her word and not judge her, so she wasn't sure what to make of her interjection. Cosima smiled.

"You like gay _male _porn," Cosima explained, giggling, and then held up her hand. "High five — I can work with that!"

Delphine looked puzzled, but limply slapped her girlfriend's waiting hand. "One of '_those _girls?'" she asked.

"Sure, that's not unusual," Cosima smiled. "Who do you think writes all that boy-on-boy fanfic?"

Delphine looked at her for a moment, before giggling herself.

"Well, I just thought… I mean, when it is two men, they're so… it doesn't feel so… vulnerable, for me, somehow? It's not something I expected. I just think it's… hot."

Cosima nodded in understanding and gave her cheek a small squeeze.

"_Totes,_ I get it. It also subverts the dominant paradigm of how males are 'supposed' to behave in our culture, which is, you know…"

"'Oddly romantic?'" Delphine finished for her. They shared smiles and a small kiss.

They snuggled up to watch and Delphine felt her cheeks flushing as her body responded to watching the two men engage in numerous sexual positions, while musing that that was the very thing that had seemed ridiculous to her in some of the heterosexual scenes she had seen in the past. The men certainly did seem to be into each other, too, she observed, and glanced over at Cosima, who started making little "rah-rah" first pump motions, egging the men in the film on. Delphine laughed and Cosima winked at her.

Delphine felt delighted that her love was so understanding and game. As Delphine discovered more about herself and her sexuality beyond her previous, more normative, experience, Cosima seemed totally supportive and willing to go along. How, in the past, could Delphine ever have predicted that she would end up in a relationship with a woman — an _extraordinary_ woman, even putting clones and conspiracies aside — much less in bed with her watching two men having sex? Once again she thought of how confined her world had really been before, as she concentrated all her energies on the science, on her career. But it turned out that opening herself to this woman had both expanded her sexual horizons and opened her mind in ways that were beneficial to her work in the biology fields. Cosima approached so much of the world with both a childlike curiosity and a mature acceptance. She sparked the same in Delphine, whether they were talking about genetics or sex, apparently.

"I wonder if there's some kind of material you would find… you would not approve of, if I had brought it up," Delphine speculated, half to herself. Cosima chuckled.

"Could be…" she answered, "even I have my limits. Hey, wait! Don't tell me you have a crush on Felix, do you? I always wondered why you were so nervous around him."

"Cosima!" Delphine exclaimed, slapping her girlfriend's arm for about the thousandth time in their relationship. "You know it's because he didn't like me from the beginning."

"Mmmyeah, it's okay," Cosima teased, "I think everyone kind of has a crush on Felix. Although, wait," her eyes grew rounder, "damn, should I be glad you haven't met Tony, yet?"

Delphine was shaking her head, now.

"Are you going to be insufferable about this? Are you joking, or part serious? You know you're the only clone I'd ever be attracted to," she told her. Cosima snickered.

"Are you sure? Sometimes when you look at Allison…"

Delphine hit her again. They ended up wrestling a bit before giving up to have dinner. Delphine made sure to end up on top holding Cosima down just to take her down a peg. She kissed her lover on the nose and hopped off the bed and into the kitchen. She gave Cosima things to chop while they listened to the CBC.

"Now, after dinner," Cosima assured Delphine in her ear, holding her from behind as Delphine put the finishing touches on the salad, "we can get back to that movie. I definitely want to see what gets you all hot and bothered, Doctor Cormier."

"Mmm, that sounds fun. Although, you know, it's always _you _that turns me on, mon amour," Delphine smiled, leaning back to kiss Cosima's cheek. "Especially," she whispered, and Cosima leaned forward expectantly, "when you clean up after dinner without being asked."

Cosima made an _ugh_ noise and rolled her eyes, and they both smirked.

"You know I enjoy being domestic with you, but can we be more that new-ish couple who jumps into bed for tonight? I promise to clean up in the morning."

Delphine pursed her lips in thought.

"I just want to get back to touching you," Cosima needled, giving her purposeful puppy-dog eyes, until Delphine rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I suppose I should not say that I find having a clean kitchen a turn-on," she mused, and Cosima chuckled into her shoulder. Delphine turned and kissed her.

"Of course, my love, if you promise." They gave each other a little squeeze. "Just don't forget: we have so much more experimenting to do."

And maybe that was it, Delphine thought, as she watched Cosima set the table. They were experimenting, keeping open minds, as a part of their "crazy science," but they didn't need to be so analytical as to spoil the mysterious physical and emotional flow that drew them together. They might be scientists looking to understand and improve on the natural world, but ultimately they knew that the chemistry that bound them, and the love they shared, was a fascinating yet satisfying mystery that could probably never be fully described or explained.

"What?" Cosima asked with a half-grin, looking up to find Delphine watching her.

"I was just thinking. With all we've been through, you are the most fun I've ever had," Delphine smiled back at her, then sidled up to her and wrapped her arms around her waist. Cosima returned the embrace.

"Also," Delphine smiled into her lover's ear, "I definitely think I have discovered that what I am is Cosima-sexual."

A soft puff of laughter blew across Delphine's cheek.

"High five," Cosima said again. "I can work with that."


End file.
